


The Hidden Path

by Estraeven



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 15:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2585717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estraeven/pseuds/Estraeven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the beginning of their senior year, coinciding with the return of Stiles’ aunt Tatia after a long absence from Beacon Hills, a new mystery will reveal itself to Scott and his pack that will result in them learning more about the underlying forces of the supernatural world as well discovering more about their own latent potentials. Working to figure out her true intentions, Scott, now the primary protector of his hometown, must lead his pack in unraveling the enigma before them in order to have any hope of confronting and defeating this new threat before it is too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since this is my first fic , I've only posted the first ten chapters that I've finished so I can gauge if anyone is interested in it or not. As this is just the first major part of the fic, some characters, such as Liam and Mason, will show up eventually, in case you wondering were where they are. Hope you like it!

_Tatia_

As she rode in the taxi she had taken from the airport to the town of Beacon Hills, Tatia Stilinski looked out the window of the cab, observing the surrounding people and places. It became clear to her, even before she had actually reached her destination, that the town that her sister Claudia had called home was very much so the pinnacle of modern suburbia, with all the trappings and perceived welcoming atmosphere associated with the idea.

However, drawing from her memories of previous visits, Tatia also remembered distinctly how it also was much like a small town, with its palpable veil of secrets and mysteries, all just beyond the reach of everyday perception. Thoughts such as these would usually result in yet another trip down memory lane, one taken often these days, Tatia thought to herself, whilst sighing lightly.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the taxi cab had just arrived at the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department, causing Tatia to snap out of her dreamlike state, perhaps sooner than she would have liked; but then again, perhaps not.

As she stepped out of the taxi, Tatia felt a faint, warm breeze drift against her body, making her long skirt rustle slightly and her wavy, black hair press against her cheek. She welcomed such a breeze as she had forgotten how sweltering California summers could be, even at their end. She walked rather briskly toward the entrance to the station, feeling a sense of happiness about seeing John and Wojciech after so many years but also of doubt, over whether they would accept her with open arms or deny her, as she had not been a part of their lives for so long.

Upon entering the building, Tatia become immediately aware of exactly how busy the Sheriff and his deputies were this time of year, what with several of the deputies lazily filling in paperwork with disinterested looks on all their faces; well all but one.

The deputy at the reception desk appeared quite younger than the others, with a genuine smile on his face as she approached, as well as a slight blush on his cheeks, one that he was certainly trying to hide. He also sported quite the defined musculature, although it was somewhat obscured by his uniform.

“Hello, Ma’am, I’m Deputy Parrish, what can I assist you with?”

“Would it be possible for me to speak with Sheriff Stilinski?” Tatia said, with a sort of calm confidence.

“Of course, Ma’am, if it is a matter of urgent importance; otherwise I’m sure myself or one of the other deputies will be happy to help you” Parrish said.

“Oh it’s certainly not. I’m just his sister-in-law, Tatia, here for a rather extended visit. He should be expecting me” Tatia said.

“Actually, he did mention something about you earlier, I must have just forgotten” Parrish said rather quickly, with a slight fluster about him; Tatia was not surprised by this, as it was the effect she commonly had on men, one that she often used to her advantage.

“Anyway, the Sheriff’s office is right down the hall, to the right” Parrish said, gesturing in the direction of the hall leading towards the center of the station.

“Funny, it used to be in the room behind your desk, but I see that it now seems to be used for storage” Tatia said, noting the rows of file cabinets and assorted furniture that occupied the unlit room behind Parrish’s desk.

“Oh…ah well we’ve actually done quite a bit of remodeling lately” Parrish said, clearing trying to hide something, as was evidenced by the anxious look of his face.

With that, Tatia walked towards the Sheriff’s office, unsure of how he would react to her appearance; she had forewarned him, but one can never know how these sorts of reunions will fare.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_John_

John was right in the middle of eating his lunch, a rather plain looking veggie burger with a side salad, something he thought he would never find himself eating, much less enjoying. However, with the constant pestering from Stiles about his unhealthy eating, leading to many less than initially appetizing meals, he guessed something must have clicked, as he actually quite liked the taste of this sort of food now. Not that he would ever admit to it, he couldn’t possibly deal with the sort of smug satisfaction his son would display following such a confession.

Just as he had taken a particularly large bite of his burger, John heard a knock at his office door.

Without even looking up from the case files he was currently examining, John said, with a mouth half full of food, “Who is it?”

“It’s Tatia, John. May I come in?”

“Of course, I wasn’t expecting you to arrive this early” John said awkwardly, as he finished swallowing what food remained in his mouth, in preparation for what would be surely be a long conversation.

As Tatia entered his office, which was admittedly quite cluttered; John got up from his chair and walked over to her, embracing her in a hug, which she readily accepted.

“It has been such a long time John. I’m glad to be among family again” Tatia said, with a distinct smile on her face. This made the few wrinkles on her face more evident, granted they were minor, but still they made him realize just then how much time had passed since they had last spoken and how much older they both had gotten.

Stopping himself before he became lost in memories of a happier time, when Claudia was alive and Tatia had been so full of life, almost finished with college, and ready to face the world, he asked Tatia “Have you not had any contact with your father all this time?”

“Unfortunately I haven’t, as he didn’t wish to speak to me after Claudia’s death and he hasn’t shown any interest in me or my affairs since” Tatia said bitterly.

“Oh… I’m sorry for mentioning him then” John apologized.

“It’s not your fault. I mean how could you have known, we haven’t spoken in years, so they are bound to be moments like this” Tatia said, with a laugh that eased his conscience.

From there, they began conversing on a variety of topics, ranging from what she had been up to since graduating from Oxford University in London to how his job had been treating him, as he had just been inducted as Sheriff a few months after Claudia’s funeral, several weeks after Tatia had already returned to London.

It had become obvious to him as their conversation progressed that a much different version of his wife’s younger sister now sat before him, older and clearly more affected by the cruelty of the past. He was, admittedly, much the same in this way. But it was her just the same, so he would not let such depressing thoughts damper this reunion.

***

After they had spent quite a bit of time catching up on the events of each other's lives, John realized that time had somewhat escaped them as it was well past noon and into the afternoon hours, so he decided that it was about time he called Stiles to come and pick Tatia up from the station, along with her moderate amount of luggage. So, John picked up his phone from the corner of his desk, an older model that he really should get around to replacing, and called Stiles.

“So, it turns out that your aunt Tatia arrived a bit early from the airport, so I’m going to need you to come out to the station and bring her home” John said.

“Okay Pops, no problem, I just have to drive Kira home first” Stiles said, in a somewhat anxious tone with a hint of annoyance. John had anticipated that his son would not be entirely looking forward to seeing his aunt again; it wasn’t as if she left on bad terms or anything of the sort. She just hadn’t contacted them at all after his wife’s death, so he knew Stiles would bear some resentment toward her.

“Am I interrupting something?” John asked, surprised as he thought Stiles was just going to be lounging around the house that day.

“Nope. Kira just came over so that we could finish marathoning the X-Files, only had a few episodes left, we wanted to finish watching it before school starts on Monday” Stiles replied with his usual expressive enthusiasm. John rolled his eyes, wishing that his son had as much drive for his schoolwork as he did for his hobbies.

“Anyway, make sure to empty the back of your jeep to make room for your aunt’s luggage and please clean up the seats and the dashboard, I doubt she wants to sit among your dozens of papers, fast food bags, and candy wrappers” John said, knowing that Stiles never cleans up for himself unless explicitly told to.

“Honestly, Dad, you think I haven’t already cleaned up. Have you so little faith in me?” Stiles said, clearly doing his best to sound offended.

“Just going from experience, Son” John responded.

“Alright, you got me” Stiles said “I’ll clean up the jeep and be down at the station after I drop Kira off, I should be there in about 30 minutes.”

“Okay, see you then” John said, as he ended the call.

“He should be here shortly” John said as he turned towards Tatia “Now I have to warn you, he may not be immediately welcoming to you, but I’m sure he’ll warm up to you again over time.”

“I hope so” Tatia said, seeming earnest in her intentions to reconnect with both himself and his son, which shouldn’t seem surprising to him, as they were really the only family she had left, and she hadn’t really mentioned having any close friends thus far.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Tatia_

Tatia was pleased with how her initial reunion with her late sister’s husband had went, he was just as welcoming and warm as she had expected, and she was glad that he was willing to reconnect. Wojciech, or Stiles as he apparently now liked to be called, would be another matter entirely; she had been close with him all those years ago, but he was but a small child then, not the young man who would soon stand before her.

She continued to ponder on such thoughts as John walked her out of the station and into the parking lot where Stiles was standing beside his jeep waiting for her. Of course, she had expected him to look quite a bit different than how she remembered; however, it still surprised her to see how much he had grown in the eight years since she had last seen him. But it was somewhat comforting that he still retained some features, such as his overall lanky appearance which had always helped him convey his emotions with his signature expressive flailing motions, from his childhood years.

As Tatia started walking over to Stiles, pulling along her bags of luggage on a travel luggage cart, Stiles quickly walked over to her, meeting her halfway between the station and his jeep.

“Let me help you with those” Stiles said.

“Thank you, Stiles” Tatia said, albeit a bit awkwardly, as she was not yet used to calling him that. She would work on that; the last thing she wanted to do was to cause any unneeded conflict or tension between them, especially since she couldn’t sense yet whether his apparent helpfulness was genuine or if he was simply feigning niceties at the behest of his father.

While Stiles was putting her luggage away in the back of his jeep, which she noticed was a particular shade of blue she hadn’t really seen before on a jeep, Tatia got into the front seat, initially surprised by how clean it seemed, considering all the fuss John had been making about it earlier. However, after examining the dashboard briefly, she noticed how the glove compartment was barely managing to stay closed; which lead her to realize that Stiles had quickly shoved all of his old wrappers and bags into it before arriving at the station.

Tatia tried her best to restrain a bout of laughter, at both the actions of her nephew and at herself, for forgetting briefly that this was a teenage boy she was dealing with here, remembering how worried she had been before that he would resent her entirely.

Just as she finished that thought, Stiles closed the back of the jeep and got into the driver’s seat, giving her a small smile.

“Are you all set to go?” Stiles asked.

“Yes, I am” Tatia replied.

“Great, let’s get going then” Stiles said, as he started the jeep and began to exit the parking lot of the station. Tatia was pleased with how these first interactions had gone, for as far as she could tell both her brother-in-law and her nephew were not bothered by her presence, which would make the rest of her plans for her stay in Beacon Hills that much easier.


	2. Chapter 2

_Stiles_

Admittedly, he was a bit happy to have his aunt Tatia back; Stiles thought to himself, but it still didn’t excuse her for leaving all those years ago, right after his mom’s death, when he had needed her most. Granted, it was not as bad as what Scott’s dad had done, but it still stung nonetheless.

Tatia, who must have noticed his silent demeanor since he started driving them towards the house, looked as if she wanted to say something, but seemed as if she didn’t want to bother him. Stiles wouldn’t have this, as regardless of how lukewarm his feelings were about her presence, he knew that her stay would only be that much more difficult for the both of them if they didn’t speak to each other at all; plus he knew his dad would be upset with him if he continually gave her the cold shoulder. So, Stiles took it upon himself to start a conversation.

“So, have you spoken to Grandpa lately, how is he doing?” Stiles asked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know, he hasn’t spoken to me since your mother died” Tatia responded, with a sad look on her face.

“Sucks, doesn’t it, when people you thought cared about you just abruptly want nothing to do with you?” Stiles said, realizing just a little too late how scathing that sounded.

Tatia, clearly hurt by his words, said “I am sorry Stiles, you are right to be angry, even resentful of me, but despite our past misgivings, I was still hoping that we could be friends.”

“It’s not that I don’t want us to get along like we used to, it’s just that I would like to know why you ignored us after her funeral, never visited, never called, nothing” Stiles said, after a bit of a pause on his part to gather his thoughts because it’s not as if he didn’t remember the good times that they had shared during her numerous visits to Beacon Hills before his mom died; it’s just that he couldn’t ever really think positively of her again until she explained why she had broken all contact between them.

Almost as if she could read his mind, Tatia said “I realize that you probably want to know why I didn’t remain in contact with you and your father over the years-”

“Yeah, that would be nice” Stiles said before Tatia could even finish that thought, trying to make it abundantly clear that, yes, that was in fact, the crux of the matter at the hand.

“-But, I did what I did for a number of reasons, all of which I will explain to you if you just give me a chance” Tatia said, just as Stiles drove into the driveway.

“I’m listening” Stiles said, as he took the keys out of the ignition.

“First of all, Stiles, I was only just shy of twenty-two at the time of your mother’s funeral and about to start my senior year of university, I had grand dreams of the things I could accomplish when I graduated and didn’t want to put those dreams on hold to stay here and help my brother-in-law raise his son” Tatia said, sounding genuine to Stiles as he could sense a tinge of guilt in her tone.

“Selfish, I know, but I was still young and uninterested in taking on such a responsibility. Also, while you now act as if you would have wanted me to stick around, how could I have been so sure then that you wouldn’t have just seen it as me trying to replace your mother’s role in your life or something of that sort?” Tatia said to him with conviction.

Stiles could tell from the way she had worded her statement that she didn’t intend to wound, but instead to make it clear to him that it was not as if she hadn’t cared, merely that she had been afraid of losing opportunities in her own life, as well as being unsure of whether he would have even accepted her as a caregiver. This all made sense to him logically, but he still wasn’t sure if he could ever really accept her into his life again, after all this time.

However, Stiles felt that he should at least give her a chance, considering that she was willing to be so frank with him about her past actions.

After a lengthy pause taken to consider these things, Stiles told Tatia “I believe you and I think that, perhaps, I was too harsh before. Even though I’m not sure if I can ever really forgive you, I am glad to have you back and I would like it if we could be close again.”

Stiles was not entirely sure if he really would like that, but he found some appreciation in the smile his words brought to Tatia’s face, knowing that at least it would make the duration of her visit more bearable.

“Well I’m glad we settled that. Now, are you going to help me get my bags inside or are we just going to sit here all day?” Tatia asked.

“You’re right, we should probably get you settled in before dinner” Stiles replied as he began to unload her luggage from the back of the jeep.

***

Stiles was surprised at how quickly they had been able to get her luggage almost fully unpacked and organized in the guest bedroom, although it could only loosely be defined as such, having only enough space for a twin bed, nightstand, and a small bookshelf. The closet, spanning the back wall, however, was fairly large, allowing just enough space to fit all of her clothes within its confines.

All that remained of her luggage to be unpacked was a medium sized, metal suitcase that had felt a little heavy to Stiles when he was hauling it from the jeep to her room earlier. Looking forward to finishing this organizing affair, he quickly went over to the suitcase and tried to open it; this was to no avail as he soon realized, for the suitcase appeared to be electronically locked, evidenced by the digital keypad next to the handle.

Stiles stared briefly at the suitcase, an expression of sheer puzzlement adorning his face, before he asked Tatia “So, what’s in the case?”

“Oh just some books that I acquired from some antique bookstores in Europe” Tatia said, as he went over to where Stiles was sitting with the suitcase.

“So what’s with the heavy duty security?” Stiles said quizzically.

“These books are some of my most prized possessions, they are all very old and rare, some even one of a kind, so you can understand why I would want to protect them” Tatia replied, as she entered in the correct combination on the keypad and unlocked the case. Inside the suitcase were a dozen books, some which looked much older than others, but all having a mysterious air about them.

“Yeah, I can definitely see that” Stiles said, as he began to cough at the musty stench that seemed to emanate from the books.

“How about I finish organizing my things up here while you get started on dinner; I hear you’ve become quite the cook in my absence.” Tatia said, evidently trying to get him out of there, so she could deal with her books in peace. Stiles would have been slightly offended, hadn’t it been for the fact that he had no intention of inhaling fifteen different species of mold that afternoon.

Stiles took his leave from the guest bedroom and headed across the house to the kitchen to begin to prepare their dinner, all the while pondering on the mysterious vibe he had gotten from those books and what secrets Tatia might possibly be hiding.


	3. Chapter 3

_Braeden_

It was early in the afternoon when Braeden arrived at Derek’s apartment complex, returning from yet another fruitless lead in her search for Malia’s mother, the Desert Wolf. She had never been one to give up on a mission, but she was certainly becoming weary of this one, Braeden thought to herself as she drove into parking garage and took her usual spot in the reserved section.

She recalled telling him that such special treatment was not necessary, but he wouldn’t have it, saying that he never wanted her to have trouble finding one, especially when returning from a job. This made her smile to herself as she walked out of the garage and towards the entrance of the lobby, all the while wondering how she had managed on her own for all those years, a sort of existence that seemed utterly foreign to her now.

Entering the lobby, Braeden waved briefly towards Linda the receptionist, who quickly waved back as she was in the middle of dealing with two young men, who at first glance looked to be in their mid-twenties. They were both of a moderately tall, muscular build, similar to Derek’s actually, with one having fairly dark skin and the other light, fair skin. Normally, she would have barely even noticed them, but something about them struck her as familiar, though she couldn’t determine why.

As she reached the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor where Derek’s loft was located, she noticed the two men turn around and walk toward one of the tables in the lobby, presumably waiting for their appointment with Derek. Upon seeing their faces, Braeden thought that maybe she would recognize them from some previous meeting, but no, she was sure she had never seen either of them before.

By the time she came to that conclusion, the elevator had worked its way down to the lobby and its doors had opened, so Braeden walked in, deciding to forget about that rather strange occurrence, instead focusing on reuniting with her man after several weeks apart.

When the elevator arrived at the top floor, Braeden got out and walked quickly towards the door to Derek’s loft, opening it with a forceful pull, as it had the tendency to get stuck if opened too lightly.

Braden felt disappointed when she entered the loft to find that she didn’t see Derek anywhere, she figured that he was probably out doing something, meaning she would have to wait for a while before they could have their reunion. However, her spirits were lifted when she walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor and saw Derek, looking pretty damn fine in a suit, grooming himself in front of the bathroom mirror.

“Someone’s looking professional” Braeden said, sauntering over towards him.

“That’s the look I’m going for” Derek said, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her in for a quick kiss.

“Really though, why are you so dressed up?” Braeden said, as Derek moved away from her and began to descend the staircase.

“I have an appointment with two potential tenants for apartment 3B; I’ve been trying to rent it out for weeks now” Derek said as he hurriedly put on his black suit jacket. She should have realized that was the case, he always got so focused and just a bit tense whenever he had to act the salesman; despite the fact that he always closed the deal, because really, who could deny that smiling face. She’d never told him that though, he was just too adorable when he got all nervous like that.

“I’m sure they’ll take it. And, after you finish with that, you can come back up here so we can have a proper reunion” Braeden said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that was in no way chaste.

“Looking forward to it” Derek said, as he smiled and headed out the door.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Derek_

Riding the elevator down to the lobby of his apartment complex, Derek made some final adjustments to his wardrobe, mostly just fussing with his tie, for whatever reason, he could never get it to look quite right. Well, close enough, he thought to himself as the elevator door opened into the lobby.

“Have Mr. Townsend and Mr. Volkov arrived for their appointment?” Derek asked his receptionist.

“They have actually, they’re sitting right over there” Linda said, as she pointed to the two men sitting at the table closest to the back wall of the lobby.

“Have they been waiting long?” Derek said, worried that his over-preparation beforehand had made him late for their appointment.

“Oh no, they’ve only been here for about fifteen minutes” Linda replied.

“I really should be better about these sorts of things” Derek said, sighing a bit.

“I wouldn’t worry Mr. Hale, they seem pretty hopeful to get the place, this should a cinch for you” Linda said, doing her best to ease his nerves.

“Thanks, Linda” Derek said, smiling as he walked towards them.

When he approached the table where the two men were seated, they both arose from their seats.

“Hello, Mr. Townsend and Mr. Volkov, I’m Derek Hale, landlord and owner of this establishment” Derek said to the two men, as he gave each a firm, welcoming handshake.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Hale, I’m Gabriel Townsend and this is my partner, Artyom Volkov” Gabriel said as he gestured toward the fair skinned man standing next to him.

“We’re here to inquire about an apartment; you see we’ve both just gotten jobs in Beacon Hills and want to relocate closer to our places of work” Artyom said.

“Well that’s as a fine a reason as any. How about we go take a look at the apartment, I’m sure you’ll both find it to be more than sufficient for your needs” Derek said enthusiastically.

“We’ll see about that” Gabriel said. This would have worried Derek, but he could already gauge from their attitudes that they may have already made up their minds. The three of them then headed towards the elevator, taking it up to the third floor of the building.

During the brief moments that encompassed the elevator ride to the third floor, Derek noticed a strange scent on the two men, one he hadn’t noticed in the lobby due to being so preoccupied with making a good first impression. It was subtle scent, but it was clear to him that he had never encountered anything like it before. However, now was not the time to become distracted by such things; he still hadn’t shown them the apartment yet and would not have them to be made uncomfortable by his newfound wariness of their presence.

Now on the third floor, Derek led Gabriel and Artyom down the hall to apartment 3B, which was at the end of the hall to the right. He unlocked the door and invited them both inside.

“As you can see this unit has a rather spacious lounge and dining area” Derek said as he gestured to the main room of the apartment, along with the dining table situated next to the kitchen. Neither of them seemed initially impressed with the apartment, it’s not that he could blame them really, he was aware that it wasn’t exactly luxury material, but he knew that it was certainly above average in comparison to the smaller apartment buildings dotted around Beacon Hills or the pricy condominiums in nearby Devenford.

“Here is the kitchen, complete with stainless steel appliances and premium marble countertops” Derek said. He already felt slightly silly doing this tour, as neither of them had said a word since he began his presentation, so he felt like he was just talking to himself. On the other hand, at least they did not seem displeased, just neutral really.

“And here is the bedroom, along with the bathroom, equipped with a sizable walk-in shower” Derek said, grateful that he had reached the end of this awkward, albeit, short tour.

“So do what you guys think? Does this seem like the place for you?” Derek asked.

“Definitely, it’s exactly the sort of the place we’ve been looking for” Gabriel answered approvingly.

“Just one question though. Where would we be permitted to park in the garage and how many parking spots would we be allowed?” Artyom asked.

“Since this apartment is on the third floor, you’d park in the third floor of the garage; I don’t really place any limits on how many parking spots individual tenants can use since the garage has more than enough spots for everyone, but I would only ask that you be courteous of the other tenants in terms of how many spots you use, which includes any guests you may have” Derek said.

“Sounds more than reasonable, doesn’t it Gabe” Artyom said.

“It sure does. Well it seems you’ve sold us on the place, Mr. Hale. Shall we begin the paperwork?” said Gabriel.

“Yeah, that would great. Oh and call me Derek” Derek said, rather happily, pleasantly surprised at how easily he’d closed the deal. However, as he brought Gabriel and Artyom down to his office adjacent to the lobby, he was once again reminded of the peculiar scent the two of them gave off. It wasn’t simply body order or cologne nor did it smell similar to any of the supernaturals he had encountered thus far. However, he certainly wasn’t going to jump to conclusions just yet, as they seemed perfectly normal, but he would an eye on them for a while just to be sure.


	4. Chapter 4

_Scott_

It was warm outside and the sun was shining, Scott observed as he drove his motorbike into the school parking lot; he was sure today was going to be a good day, after all it was the first day of his senior year and things had been fairly quiet around Beacon Hills over the summer. Upon parking his motorbike in a spot fairly close to the main entrance, Scott walked into the main school building and headed towards his locker; it was still over a half an hour before first period and yet the halls were already full of students, most of whom were having reunions and reconnections long overdue from summer separations.

Scott had no need of such reunions as pretty much all of his friends had stayed in Beacon Hills during the summer, but that doesn’t mean that when he saw Kira waiting at his locker with a smile on her face that he didn’t feel the same excitement that all the others around him were feeling. She still looked as beautiful as ever, he thought, as he walked quickly over to her. How did he ever get so lucky?

“So, how you are feeling today?” Scott asked, as he embraced her and lifted her slightly off the ground.

“Pretty good, although I do feel a bit tired” Kira said, as she rubbed her eyes after finishing a small yawn following his embrace.

“Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” Scott asked with concern.

“Oh, I slept fine. I’m just still recovering from all those late night TV marathons with Stiles” Kira replied, with what seemed like pride to him; he would never be able to understand why they had to stay up all night just to finish what they were watching. Both of them, particularly Stiles, seemed to have quite the tenacity when it came to watching their favorite shows and movies.

“Well, I’m glad you two have something you can enjoy together” Scott said, smiling afterwards, as he was glad Stiles had someone to share his interests with, someone who had far more viewing stamina than he would ever have; plus there was the added bonus that since she and him had started their marathoning earlier in the summer, Stiles had finally stopped insisting that he watch Star Wars.

“It was so worth it though, I mean he has like all the shows and movies I’ve ever wanted to watch or watch again, all on DVD” Kira said, her voice full of her happiness and enthusiasm.

“He sure does” Scott said, briefly recollecting the many weekends Stiles had spent downloading all of those shows and movies and burning them onto stacks and stacks of DVDs, all with his dad wondering the entire time why the internet was always so slow.

“Where is Stiles anyway?” Scott asked, wondering where his best friend was, especially since classes were about to begin.

“Oh, didn’t he tell you, him and Malia decided to have their free period as their first period so they could sleep in longer” Kira replied.

Scott did vaguely remember receiving a text about it from him a few days ago, but he had been so engrossed in making the final touches to his AP English summer paper that he must have forgotten all about it.

“Of course, they did” Scott said, without a hint of surprise.

Just as they started conversing about what classes they had that day, what teachers they had, and other school related topics, Scott heard the ten minute warning bell for the start of classes sound throughout the main hall.

“We’d better get going to English, wouldn’t want to be late on the first day” Scott said, as he and Kira headed up the stairs to the second floor and all the way down the hall to AP English in room 207.

***

While Scott and Kira were getting settled in their seats, Scott briefly scanned the classroom to see if he could spot any familiar faces; he did indeed, but he honestly couldn’t remember half of their names. This moment brought him to a realization that outside of his fairly small group of friends, he didn’t actually know a lot of his classmates.

This didn’t really bother him though, as over the past year and a half, he had lost any desire he had once had to be popular or well-known, instead he had chosen to focus and build relationships with the few people that were closest to him. However, this didn’t stop him from feeling just a little guilty about it, because maybe some of his peers had really wanted to get to know him better, but felt intimidated by the closeness of his current group of friends, or possibly due to his consistent occupation with supernatural happenings, which kept him away from a lot of school related events and parties.

Regardless, he quickly abandoned that train of thought when the teacher, who was apparently new to Beacon Hills High this year, walked into the room, as it was time to focus on the task at hand.

“Hello students, my name is Mr. Townsend and I am your AP English teacher for this year” Mr. Townsend said, in a tone that showed Scott that he was quite serious about his work and would not be taken lightly.

“As I presume you are all seniors taking this AP class in the hopes of attaining credit for use in your future college careers, I will be treating this class as a college course, with an appropriate associated workload” Mr. Townsend said, as he passed out a thick packet to the class. Briefly glancing at the packet, Scott observed that it contained the list of required readings for the class as well as the due dates for several writing assignments.

“This class will also be discussion oriented. By that, I mean that the majority of class time will be spent on discussions initiated by myself, but continued primarily by your fellow classmates” Mr. Townsend said, making gesturing towards the rows of students seated in the classroom.

“Which means that I expect all of you to make an effort to actively participate in class, but I’m sure you all realize that in order to participate, you must do all the readings before class, and have at least a sufficient knowledge of them. No summaries, no sparknotes, cliffnotes, or any other kind of notes written to tell you what’s important and what’s significant about what you are reading. Do the readings, think about them, and come to your own conclusions. Believe me, I will know if you are truly putting effort into this course or not, which will be reflected by your grade in the class” Mr. Townsend said.

Scott realized that Mr. Townsend was mainly doing this whole speech as an intimidation tactic, to try to get students motivated to actually do their work and develop the discipline necessary for college classes; he had heard similar ones many a time before. However, what struck him about this particular instance was the conviction with which Mr. Townsend spoke, the kind he had only noticed in teachers who actually seemed to care about their subject and their students.

“Now, onto my expectations for your writing assignments, of which I have given a fairly large selection of topics for you to choose from” Mr. Townsend said, as he begin to go into the details of the structure and content of those assignments.

This would have been all well and good for Scott, as ever since he really stepped up his game at the beginning of his junior year, he had excelled in all of his classes and welcomed the challenges of this class and others. But, as the class went on, conviction was not the only vibe he perceived from Mr. Townsend. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it at first, but as the class period went on, he detected this strange scent, almost an aura really, about Mr. Townsend’s presence; it was unlike anything he had encountered before but he was certain that it was not that of a werewolf.

Before he considered this strange occurrence further, Scott realized that he had begun to tune out what Mr. Townsend had been saying, so he thought the best course of action would be to just wait to talk with his pack about it later during their lunch period together.

The rest of the class was uneventful, spent mostly on going over the syllabus in more detail, ending with what readings and writing assignments would be due for the rest of the week. As Scott walked out of class with Kira at the end of the period, he had a clear feeling of uneasiness about Mr. Townsend; it was clear to him that he was supernatural in some capacity, but Scott didn’t know what he was exactly or what his intentions were. For now though, Scott decided to focus on the remaining classes he had before his lunch period, where he would attempt to puzzle out this new mystery.

***

After fourth period concluded, Scott quickly headed down to the cafeteria, got his lunch, and went to his usual table at the far end of the courtyard. He was happy to see that Kira and Lydia were already sitting at the table, just about to start eating their lunches, although he did wonder where Stiles and Malia were.

“Are you okay Scott, you look pretty anxious, did something happen?” Lydia asked, before taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Yeah, you seemed a bit off when we were leaving English this morning” Kira added, visibly worried.

“Nothing really happened in particular, I just got this really strange vibe from our English teacher” Scott said, as he leaned forward and lowered his voice.

“Are we talking about just usual asshole teacher vibes here, or werewolf sense vibes?” Lydia asked, lowering her voice for the latter part of her question.

“Definitely werewolf sense vibes. He just gave off this really weird scent. At first I thought that he might be another werewolf, but he smelled nothing like one. It’s hard to explain” Scott replied, a bit frustrated at trying to convey what exactly he had felt to them. Clearly it wasn’t working, as Kira and Lydia both looked perplexed.

“I’m sure Malia will be able to understand what you mean, she’s had a lot of practice with honing her heightened senses over the past few months” Lydia said as she waved to Malia and Stiles in the distance.

Within a few minutes, Stiles and Malia had arrived at the table with their lunches, Stiles looking quite sweaty and disheveled.

“I swear Finstock is trying to kill me” Stiles said, as he sat down at the table in his usual expressive fashion, still dripping with sweat.

“Stiles, we only had to run two laps around the track” Malia said, rolling her eyes at Stiles’ theatrics.

“Easy for you to say, not all of us have amazing strength, speed, and stamina” Stiles said, pretending to be offended.

“True, but I wouldn’t say that you’re entirely lacking in those qualities” Malia said with a sultry smirk, bringing Stiles closer in for a kiss.

Just as Stiles and Malia finished their brief makeout session and started eating, Scott said “I think we might have a bit of problem.”

“What!?” Stiles said, with his mouth full of food, spewing bits of burger across the table.

“Relax, Stiles, I’m not even really sure if there is a problem yet, but there might be” Scott said, immediately aware of how vague that sounded.

“What happened?” Malia asked.

“Nothing really, I just picked up a really strange scent off my English teacher this morning” Scott replied, hoping that Malia would understand.

“You’re talking about one of the new teachers, Mr. Townsend, right?” Malia said.

“Yeah, how did you know?” Scott said surprisedly.

“I don’t have any classes with him, but I walked by him in the hall when me and Stiles were going to history this morning, and he definitely smelled strange to me” Malia said.

“How come you didn’t say anything about it earlier?” Stiles asked, clearly confused about this whole situation.

“I would have, but I wasn’t entirely sure. Even though I’ve been working with Derek to control my senses for a while now, I’m not perfect at it; sometimes some scents just seem stronger than they should be. He could’ve just had some strong cologne on or something” Malia said.

“Fair enough, probably would have been just a bit conspicuous if we started discussing how a teacher smelled in great detail in the middle of the hallway. Anyway, what exactly did he smell like?” Stiles said, briefly displaying his I-can’t-believe-this-is-something-I’m-actually-talking-about expression, one that Scott had become very familiar with in the past few years.

“Well he didn’t smell like a werewolf or really anything natural smelling, he just smelled like… I can’t really describe it in words, but if I smelled it again, I would know it” Malia said frustratedly. Sensing this, Stiles gave her a comforting smile, which was one of the ways he showed her that he was proud of all the progress she had made, and that he didn’t expect her to be completely in tune with her abilities just yet.

“Honestly, I can’t really describe it either, but I see what you mean Malia, I could easily identify it if I smelled it again” Scott said, both reassured that this whole incident wasn’t just in his own mind and worried, knowing that this could mean the start of yet another supernatural conflict.

“From that information, even if this Mr. Townsend is supernatural, there’s no reason for us to suspect that he has any other intentions than just being a teacher. But, I still question the judgment of anyone who takes a position at this school, especially after all that’s happened” Lydia said.

“Yeah, I think she’s right. As long as he doesn’t do anything particularly suspicious, I really don’t think there’s anything to be worried about. But, I still think we should keep an eye on him” Kira said.

Even though part of him knew that Kira was probably right, he still didn’t really believe her, which was probably just a bit of paranoia on his part. But, with all they had dealt with in the past year and half, Scott wasn’t so sure if he could ever really feel secure again.

“It’s too bad I’m not in that in class with you Scott, I might have been able to perceive something about him. You know, I have very perceptive eye for evil” Stiles said, with his trademark smirk.

Everyone, including Scott, collectively rolled their eyes at Stiles’ comment.

“What! I haven’t been wrong yet” Stiles exclaimed, causing Lydia to give him a look of disbelief.

“Okay, fine, I’ve been wrong a few times, but I still have a pretty good track record” Stiles admitted; his pride a bit wounded.

“Of course you do, Stiles” Malia joked, rubbing the top of his back while he pouted briefly about the exchange.

“Really though, we shouldn’t worry too much yet, let’s just see how things develop” Stiles said. “Anyway, Scott, are you still coming over for dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, why?” Scott asked.

“Oh, no reason really, Tatia’s just been looking forward to seeing you again” Stiles responded.

With the bit of weirdness that had happened earlier that day, Scott had almost entirely forgotten that Stiles’ aunt had arrived over the weekend; he would have gone over to see her then, but his dad had stopped by for a visit, wanting to spend time with him, and since his dad had been putting forth a sincere effort to be in his life again over the past several months, it wouldn’t have been right to just ignore him. Plus, Stiles did say in his first text about his aunt that she would be in Beacon Hills for several months, so he figured he would have plenty of time to talk with her before she left.

“Wait, who’s Tatia?” Lydia asked, looking a tad confused.

“Oh, she’s my aunt on my mom’s side, she used to visit us all time before my mom died” Stiles answered, becoming a bit quieter when he mentioned his mom; Stiles always did that whenever he talked about her, but only himself and the Sheriff really noticed as it was a subtle change in his tone and expression, almost undetectable to those who hadn’t known him his whole life.

“So, she just randomly shows up years later for an extended visit, seems a bit odd” Lydia said.

“Well, she said she just got busy with her own life afterwards, but she wants to reconnect with me and my dad. At first I wasn’t really open to the idea, but I figured if you can let your Dad back into your life, Scott, I can at least give my aunt a chance” Stiles said.

“I’m glad to be able to see her again” Scott said. Although, of course, Scott had not been as close to Tatia as Stiles was, she used to babysit them frequently when they were younger, so he really only had positive memories of her.

“Do you wanna come over too, Kira?” Stiles asked.

“I would, but I already have a ton of homework to do for all my classes, and I really want to get started on it, I’m sure I can meet her some other time” Kira responded cheerfully.

“Yeah me too, but, Kira, it was a good idea for you to take all those AP classes this year, they look great on college applications” Lydia said, with the usual confidence she asserted when it came to academics.

The conversation then segued into all manner of things college related, which Scott was not really too into, as even though he knew that Stiles and him would be going to same college no matter what, he could not say the same girlfriend or his other friends. But, Scott thought to himself, that maybe that was just something that everyone felt in their last year of high school, a fear of the unknown world beyond the familiar, a fear that, frankly, affected him more than any of the supernatural crises that he had faced so far.

As the lunch period came to a close and everyone went their separate ways to attend their remaining classes for the day, Scott, shifting his thoughts in a more positive direction, decided that he would simply try to make the most of this school year, by doing as well as he could in his classes, and by enjoying the time he could spend with his friends, his pack, before they may truly have to part ways.


	5. Chapter 5

_Stiles_

It was just a few minutes before Scott and Malia arrived at his house that Stiles had managed to finish preparing their dinner for the evening; he would have been done way before then if it wasn’t for the fact that he was so used to cooking for two that he occasionally forgot that larger portions take longer to make.

Fortunately, Tatia had offered to help him; he was initially apprehensive about this at first, as he usually did all the cooking himself and didn’t really trust anyone else to get his mother’s recipes just right. But she seemed to know them as well as he did, so her help was welcome.

Just as they had finished setting the table, Stiles could hear Scott and Malia pull into the driveway on Scott’s motorbike.

“We seemed to have finished just in time” Tatia said relievedly.

“Yep, just barely” Stiles said, smiling fondly at her. Although he wasn’t sure if he would ever really admit it, he did enjoy having Tatia around again.

Looking over the table at the dinner they had just finished, Stiles couldn’t help but feel just a bit proud of himself; sure, the baked chicken parmesan, assorted pasta, and side salad meal that they had prepared wasn’t exactly the supper of kings, but even cooking fairly simple meals that he had cooked countless times before always made him feel better about himself. Maybe it was due to early encouragement his dad had given him about his cooking, even when he used to burn most of their meals, or maybe it was just because it made him feel useful to his friends and family, who always seemed to enjoy his cooking.

As Stiles finished that brief moment of personal reflection, Scott and Malia entered the dining room. He could immediately tell that Malia was a bit tense and on edge, he wasn’t sure why though, but it was probably because this was her first time meeting his aunt, and she was just afraid of making a bad first impression.

“Hello, Scott, it’s been quite a while since I last saw you” Tatia said, giving Scott a warm smile.

“It has been a while, but I’m happy to see you again” Scott said, flashing her an even warmer smile.

“And you must be Malia, Stiles has told me quite a bit about you” Tatia said as she walked towards Malia and offered her a friendly handshake, which Malia accepted, but only after a brief pause.

“Nice to meet you too, Tatia” Malia said anxiously.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way, how about we get on started on this dinner that my nephew prepared for us” Tatia said, gesturing for them all to be seated at the table. Scott and Malia sat adjacent to each other at one side of the table, with himself and Tatia seated on the opposite side.

Stiles found the dinner itself to be a rather normal sort of affair, with Tatia asking Scott and Malia the usual sorts of questions about how their lives were going, what their plans for college were, etc. However, what was certainly abnormal was that not only did Malia seem really tense the entire time, just barely hiding it under the veil of polite conversation, but also Scott, who had always been better at hiding his discontent with others, showed subtle signs of uneasiness throughout the dinner.

When everyone had had their fill of the evening’s offerings, Stiles got out of his seat and began to maneuver around the table, collecting everyone’s dirty dishes in a stack so that he could begin to wash them in the kitchen.

While he was picking up Scott and Malia’s dishes, Scott worriedly whispered to him “As soon as she leaves, we need to talk”, which made him stare at both of them briefly with a look of pure confusion as he walked over towards Tatia to take her plate.

“Is something wrong Stiles?” Tatia asked, making him immediately wish he wasn’t so obvious with his expressions.

“Oh no, everything’s fine. My good buddy Scott here was just reminding me that I have some homework due tomorrow that I really should finish before going to bed” Stiles replied, hoping he was convincing enough; he could never quite figure out how lie effectively.

“Well, okay then. You’d better get to work on that” Tatia said, as she turned to look at the clock “And I better going, if I want to make it to the university on time.”

“On time for what?” Stiles asked.

“My evening shift at the library” Tatia replied; a statement that would have been completely innocuous had it not been for his escalating suspicion, why would they be allowing her to take on extra hours after only a few days on the job?

“I must have forgotten. Still, I’m a bit surprised they’re already asking you to work double shifts?” Stiles asked, hoping to glean some evidence to support or negate his doubts.

“Oh they didn’t ask me too, I volunteered. I’ve been a full-time librarian at several academic institutions, so after my initial training on the particular workings of their institution, I assured the head librarian that I’m than capable of taking on more hours” Tatia said, without a hint of detectable falseness to her words; either she was a superb liar or he really needed to add a few points to his perception attribute.

“Sorry I can’t stay and help you with the dishes” Tatia said, as she walked out of the dining room and down the hall towards the coat closet.

“Oh that’s fine, I’m used to doing them by myself anyway” Stiles said, a bit irritated that he was no closer to knowing the truth about her than he was before.

Right after Tatia exited the house and had driven out of the driveway, Stiles said “So, what did you guys detect about her? Cause I’m kinda of at a loss here”

“Well it was similar to the scent we both picked up from Townsend, but at the same time... it wasn’t. I still can’t really describe it, but the one thing I am sure of is that it was much stronger” Malia said.

“I could see that. You two looked pretty freaked out from the second you walked in here” Stiles said, feeling himself becoming more anxious about this whole situation.

“That’s because we picked up the scent before we even came into the house. Honestly with her, it’s not even really a scent, more like a constant, intense like…presence” Scott said, struggling to put the uneasiness that Stiles could clearly tell he was feeling into words.

“Still, even despite what’s happened, there’s no reason for us to assume that my English teacher or your aunt mean us any harm. All we know for sure is that both of them are supernaturals.” Scott said, trying to ease their fears with his eternal optimism.

“Frankly, I find that hard to believe, given that most of the supernaturals we’ve dealt with so far haven’t exactly had the friendliest of intentions” Stiles responded, sensing the need to inject a little pragmatism into Scott’s perspective, despite how much he really wanted to believe that his aunt was not involved in anything nefarious.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, Stiles, I’m just saying that we should really try to gather more evidence before we assume the worst, okay?” Scott said, as he walked over to Stiles, placing a much appreciated, comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Stiles, did Tatia bring anything with her that seemed suspicious to you?” Scott asked.

“Not really, although she did bring some very old books with her” Stiles answered.

“Wait, how is that suspicious?” Malia asked, clearly confused by his admittedly ambiguous statement.

“She was carrying them in this metal suitcase that was specially locked and when I was helping her organize them on her bookshelf, she said that they were rare and valuable” Stiles responded.

“That could be something. Stiles, you and Malia should go through those books, maybe we can find out exactly what kind of supernatural your aunt is and what her relation could be to my English teacher” Scott said.

“You’re not going to stay and help us?” Malia asked.

“I would, but I want to take some of our leftovers to my mom for her night shift and I do have some homework that is actually due tomorrow that I still need to finish” Scott said, as he went into the kitchen to pack up some leftovers.

Statements like that always made Stiles a bit in awe of Scott’s very existence, someone who had endured so much, someone who could possibly be facing yet more adversity just over the horizon, was still concerned about getting his homework done on time, looking out for his loved ones, and striving to be the best that he could be. Stiles would never be able to properly express in words just how thankful he was for having met Scott all those years ago.

After Scott had left to go to the hospital, Stiles and Malia headed to Tatia’s room and went straight for the small bookshelf in the corner, across from the nightstand. Malia began to grab several of the books and toss them out of the bookshelf.

“Easy there, Malia, we don’t want to damage the books!” Stiles said, as he frantically caught the few books she had thrown.

“We also don’t want to *cough* leave any indication that we were *cough* in here” Stiles said, as he gagged on the moldy odor coming from the books.

“Sorry” Malia said, now carefully removing the books from the bookshelf.

“She shouldn’t be back for several hours, which should be more than enough time for us to look through all these books thoroughly for information” Stiles said, as he and Malia carried stacks of books to his room.

***

It turns out he had been mistaken in his estimation of how long going through all the books would take; it had already been over five hours and they had only just finished going through books number ten and eleven. They had gone through all the others to no avail, all the books so far were merely what Tatia had described them as, ancient copies of long forgotten manuscripts and historical texts. Only one book remained, a tome bound in dark brown leather, with almost completely faded gold embossed borders.

Just as Stiles was about to begin examining the book, Malia said urgently, “Your aunt should be home in less than twenty minutes, we should put the books back where they were. We can always look through the last one later.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, let’s put these back quickly in case she comes back early” Stiles agreed.

They both proceeded to hurriedly, but neatly, put all the books back exactly as they were on the bookshelf in Tatia’s room.

After the two were back in Stiles’ room, Malia took it upon herself to jump up and wrap her legs around his waist, pushing him onto his bed, while she whispered “Well, now that that’s done, we can do something much more interesting.”

Normally, he would certainly be willing to participate in such interesting activities, but this time, he would have to interject.

“As much I would love for us to continue” Stiles said, as Malia began to place several kisses on his neck and shoulders, “I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone this to a later date.”

“What!” Malia growled, showing a bit too much fang for Stiles liking “We haven’t been able to do it for a week, I need it, now!”

“Believe me, I’m very, very happy about your enthusiasm when it comes to sexy time, but I would rather avoid the incredible awkwardness of my aunt coming home right as we’re in the middle of it” Stiles said, rubbing his thumb gently against her cheek to try to calm her down. “Besides my dad and Tatia will both be out of the house on Wednesday night, so we only have to wait a few more days”.

“Ugh, Fine” Malia huffed “But, you better be at peak performance, because I’ll be more than ready for multiple rounds by then.”

“I love you too” Stiles said, smirking as he assumed his position as the little spoon to her big spoon.

“You better” Malia whispered, as the pair drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Scott_

Riding his motorbike down familiar roads, shortcuts and all, towards the hospital, Scott took a moment to appreciate the cool feeling of the crisp evening air as it buffeted against his shirt. The openness to the world around him was one of the reasons why he’d decided on a bike instead of a car, well that, and he just thought it was cool; he could never get Stiles to ride with him though, always some excuse about the fragility of his mere human body. He’d never understand how someone who had survived several intense supernatural conflicts, including a brief stint of demonic possession, could be afraid of riding a motorbike. But, that was Stiles, his quirky best friend, and he wouldn’t have him any other way.

Scott rode into the hospital parking lot and took a space at the far end of the parking lot. He had noticed that there were open spaces much closer to the entrance, but he wouldn’t want to occupy a space that someone in need of immediate assistance could use.

Walking through the sliding doors of the main entrance to the hospital, Scott realized that the hospital must be having a fairly slow night, as there weren’t that many people in the waiting room for the emergency department or in the halls; just a few nurses and doctors going about their evening rounds.

Scott spotted his mom at the far end of the entrance hall, who appeared to be having a brief chat with one of the receptionists at the main reception desk. He happily walked over to her, carrying her dinner in a plastic container.

“Hey Mom, I brought you some food for your night shift” Scott said, placing the container on the counter.

“Scott, you didn’t have to go through the trouble of making me dinner, I could have always gotten some food from the cafeteria later” Melissa said lovingly.

“Oh, but I didn’t; I just finished having dinner with Stiles, his aunt, and Malia, these are just some of the leftovers” Scott said.

“Well, in that case, thanks for the food, wasn’t really looking forward to eating cold chicken, lukewarm mashed potatoes, and stale salad yet again” Melissa said, sharing a quick laugh with the receptionist.

“And also thanks for reminding me that Tatia’s back in town, I’ve been so busy the last few days, I haven’t had a chance to stop by and say hello” Melissa said, looking just a tad bit guilty.

“It’s no big deal Mom, we talked at dinner, and she said she’s going to be in Beacon hills for at least the next few months, so I wouldn’t worry about it, you still have plenty of time” Scott said, trying to ease his mother’s guilt. That was one of the things he admired most about his mom, she was always willing to take time out of her day to thank and offer kind words to those that helped her, even if they had done so many years prior; Tatia had only babysat Scott and Stiles probably about a dozen or so times when they were kids, he couldn’t really remember, but she definitely did.

“Scott, you really should be getting home, it’s getting late and you need your rest” Melissa said.

“Yes, Mom, I’ll get right to sleep as soon as I finish my homework” Scott said, feigning embarrassment as he walked down the hall towards the exit.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Melissa_

She watched her son walk briskly down the hall and out the doors of the main entrance, feeling a sense of pride in the kind, responsible young man she had somehow managed to raise on her own; there was a time, right after the separation, that she wasn’t sure whether she could do it alone, but moments like this always reminded her how foolish she had been to ever think that.

“Melissa, your son is such a sweetheart. I don’t how you do it, my kids never do anything like for me” the Receptionist said.

“Honestly, Aleisha, I really don’t how either” Melissa said humbly.

“Well, if you every figure it out, I could use some tips” Aleisha said, laughing briefly afterwards.

Melissa was about to leave the reception area and begin her rounds, when a man dressed in nurse scrubs with pale skin and short, dark blonde hair, who looked to be in his twenties, approached the counter.

“Hello, I was wondering if this is where I’m supposed to pick my rounds assignment?” the man said, seeming timid and a bit nervous.

“Oh, you must be one of the new hires. I’m Aleisha, the head receptionist here at Beacon Hills General” Aleisha said, extending her hand out for a handshake.

“My name’s Artyom, but you can call Arty” Arty said, with a small smile while shaking her hand, already seeming more at ease.

Aleisha always had that effect on people; she always knew just how to make someone feel welcome, which comes in handy in a place like Beacon Hills, what with all the “mysterious” murders and what not, we need all the help we can get.

“Nice to meet you Arty. Now, if you would just tell me your last name, I’ll look you up in the system, and hopefully we’ll get you all squared away” Aleisha said.

“It’s Volkov, spelled V-O-L-K-O-V” Arty said.

“Alright…here you are” Aleisha said, after taking a few seconds to look up his file on the computer.

“Your rounds assignment for this week would be rooms 201 to 230 on the second floor. Since you’re new here, you’ve been assigned to assist the head nurse of that floor in attending to the patients in those rooms” Aleisha said.

“That would be me, Melissa McCall” Melissa said, smiling at Arty “You have some good timing; I was just about to head up there myself.”

“Well, that saves us the need for introductions then” Artyom said, followed by a hearty laugh “Should we head up there now?”

“In a bit, I still have a few minutes left in my break” Melissa said, quickly checking her watch to confirm; she never could trust herself with keeping track of time.

“Actually, no I don’t; so, yeah, let’s head up now” Melissa said.

She walked with him up the stairs to the second of the hospital’s five main floors, chatting briefly along the way. So far, she liked his fairly upbeat personality and positive attitude, the latter being a trait she felt was absolutely essential for a nurse to have.

Melissa went about her rounds, with Arty as her assistant for the remainder of her shift, realizing how relieving it was to have some assistance when dealing with some of the more ornery patients as it had been quite a while since she had had any; and, by the end of her shift, she was sure that he would be a good fit for the hospital. All in all, she was glad that even with all the occurrences that had happened in Beacon Hills in the last few years, it could still attract good, hardworking people to within its borders.


	7. Chapter 7

_Derek_

He woke up to the morning stillness of his loft, with the light of the rising sun just peaking over the horizon, bathing the main room of the loft with a warm radiance. Getting out of bed, Derek realized he actually felt sore, not overly so, but enough to be noticeable. This brought a smug smirk of satisfaction to his face, as he fondly remembered what could only be described as a marathon of ecstasy the night before that had been able to tire him, despite the extra stamina that the wolf within provided.

After completing his usual, quick early morning stretch routine, Derek sauntered upstairs to the kitchen alcove to begin preparing breakfast, being careful not to step on the more creaky floorboards; Braeden was quite the light sleeper after all, always on alert. He wanted to surprise her with breakfast, and waking her up early from her well-deserved slumber was certainly not the sort of surprise he had in mind.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Derek stood in place, having a brief internal debate over what he should prepare for her, as Braeden wasn’t overly picky when it came to food, but she did have a few favorites. Eventually deciding on scrambled eggs and sausages, he walked over to refrigerator to obtain the necessary ingredients. Opening the fridge, Derek grabbed the last few eggs remaining in the carton, making a mental note to pick up more from the supermarket during the upcoming weekend.

Opening the freezer, however, led to a brief moment of disappointment as he didn’t find any frozen sausages in their usual place in the shelf of the freezer door.

“Damn, I thought there was at least half a package left in here” Derek muttered to himself.

Not wanting to give up so easily, he decided to remove all the items from the front of the freezer, hoping that maybe he put it in the back of the freezer when he reorganized it after his last shopping trip.

After about ten minutes of this, when pretty much all the food that was in the freezer was now stacked somewhat precariously on the kitchen counter beside him, he found the package of sausages scrunched up in the back left corner of the freezer.

“Yes!” Derek whispered quietly, doing a subdued celebratory fist pump, which he immediately felt embarrassed about afterwards.

Thankfully, he had plenty of the other ingredients, including spices, so he heated up the stovetop and started to prepare their breakfast

***

After only about fifteen minutes since he started cooking breakfast, Derek heard Braeden rise from her slumber and get out of their bed; he had hoped to finish at least a few minutes before she awoke, but, he thought to himself, the thought counts more than the execution.

Within just a few moments, Braeden had made her way to the kitchen and slung her arms lazily around his waist.

“Aww, someone was trying to bring me breakfast in bed, how sweet” Braeden said jokingly.

“Yep. Story of my life, always trying, never succeeding” Derek said, feigning self-deprecation.

“Well, I know one thing you definitely succeed at” Braeden said, nuzzling her face into his back briefly before letting go, which made him blush just a bit, but he would never admit it.

“Oh I see, you only want me for my body, is that it?” Derek said, turning around to face her with his arms crossed and sporting his best pouty face.

“To be honest, it’s certainly part of your appeal, but I’d have to say my favorite quality of yours is that you’re the big teddy bear I’ve always wanted” Braeden said with a smirk, clearly enjoying herself as she leaned in for a quick kiss, which surprised him, but he went with it, as he could never really bring himself to deny her, even playfully so.

“Although you do have quite the grumpy streak, so I guess you’re actually more of a grumpy bear” Braeden said, pulling back from the kiss. He puffed up his chest in offense, even though he knew she was correct.

“Oh don’t look so offended” Braeden said while playfully poking him on the chest “Be real, you know it’s true.”

“What I can say, it’s part of my signature charm” Derek said, now putting his arms around her waist and drawing her closer for yet another kiss.

“As much I’m enjoying this cute little moment we be having right now, it looks like the eggs are done, and I’d rather not have burnt eggs for breakfast” Braeden said, noticing that the frying pan was beginning to smoke.

“Shit, I almost forgot!” Derek exclaimed, as he rushed to turn off the stove. Braeden let out a hearty laugh at his forgetfulness.

Aside from that minor almost catastrophe, their breakfast actually turned out quite well; he was pleased with himself about this, as he had never been that great at cooking and he kind of wanted to impress her with how much his cooking had improved since they first got together. Braeden would joke about it later, telling him that really, there was no need to try to woo her and that their relationship was already past that point, but he could tell that she appreciated all the efforts he had been making to try to improve himself in several different aspects of his life. He would be forever grateful to her for giving him the love and support to do so; come to think of it, he really should tell her that, someday.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Braeden_

Several hours after she and Derek had finished what was really a delicious breakfast and an equally tasty lunch, they found themselves lounging lazily on the sofa that afternoon, watching documentaries on the Discovery Channel. She would honestly rather be watching something else, as that sort of stuff always just put her sleep, mostly because the most of the narrators always seem straight up bored out of their minds themselves. But she could tell he was clearly currently engrossed by the migration patterns of sea turtles, so she decided to just rest her head on his shoulder and relax.

That is, of course, until she heard the lift arrive outside the entrance to the loft; she immediately knew that it most likely Scott and his friends coming to ask Derek for some help with some personal or supernatural issues.

Now, it’s not like she disliked them, in fact, she found them to be quite endearing really, although Stiles did get on her last nerve sometimes, always pestering her to teach him how to shoot, in the name of better learning how to defend himself. Obviously, she wasn’t against the idea, having taught Derek all she knew on the subject over the past few months, but considering Stiles’ general lack of any of sort of physical coordination, she came to the conclusion that no one should ever let that boy near a weapon of any kind.

Really though, it was just that, in this particular instance, she had only just returned from a fruitless, exhausting mission; a mission that she needed some time to recover from, so she had hoped she could spend the day relaxing with her man. But, regardless of how much it irritated her to have her relaxation interrupted, she had risked her life for them multiple times already and still felt like it was her duty to help and protect them.

The door to the loft opened and Scott, Stiles, Malia, Kira, and Lydia walked into the loft; this immediately worried her as they wouldn’t have come all together unless it was really urgent or important.

“Derek! Braeden, I’m surprised to see you back so soon; I think we might have a problem on our hands” Stiles said, looking rather distressed.

“Wait, what do you mean you think we might have a problem?” Derek asked as he switched off the TV, which removed him from the trance like state he had been in earlier.

“Well, we’re not exactly sure yet. All we do know is that there are definitely some new supernaturals in Beacon Hills” Scott replied.

“I’m assuming you picked up a strange scent that you couldn’t identify, one that pretty subtle, not immediately obvious unless you were paying attention” Derek said, getting up from the sofa and walking over to them. From the way he spoke, she was sure he knew something about what they were saying; this irritated her a bit, as she had told him previously that if anything strange happened, he would tell her about it, not brood silently to himself on it. But, old habits do die hard, so she wouldn’t really hold it against him.

“How did you know?” Malia asked, looking more than a little surprised.

“Two men who have recently started living in one of the apartments on the third floor, a Mr. Townsend and Mr. Volkov, both give off a clearly supernatural scent, unlike anything I’ve encountered before” Derek answered.

“Mr. Townsend is my AP English teacher; he’s new to the school this year, that’s how me and Malia found out about him, but Volkov wasn’t the other person we detected that scent on” Scott said.

“Really, who was the other person then?” Derek asked, clearly missing a piece of the quickly developing mystery before them. This worried her, as it was one thing to have suspicious supernaturals living in the building, where Derek and herself could investigate and keep an eye on them; it was quite another to have another supernatural that was not within their monitoring reach without being detected.

“My aunt Tatia, on my mom’s side” Stiles said grimly; she certainly hadn’t expected that.

“How come you’ve never mentioned her before?” Braeden asked, her curiosity piqued by this recent development.

“Look, she hasn’t really been in my life since my mom died, so I don’t know if she’s always been supernatural or if something happened to her in the eight years since I last saw her. All we know is that this scent or aura or whatever it is that you guys can perceive is apparently much stronger around her than it is around Townsend, and none of us have even met this Volkov guy!” Stiles exclaimed, seemingly flustered by her question.

“Stiles” Scott said, laying a soothing hand on Stiles’ shoulder “No one is accusing Tatia of anything, we don’t even know her intentions yet; we’re just trying to figure out if any of them could pose a threat to us, okay.”

“Yeah, I know” Stiles sighed “To be honest, I kinda knew she was hiding something ever since arrived, something just seemed different about her, but at first I thought it was just cause it’s been such a long time.”

“Besides initial suspicions, have you guys found any actual evidence that would point to her intentions?” Derek asked, with a concerned look on his face.

“Not really.” Malia answered “Me and Stiles went through almost all of Tatia’s books last night, except for one, and we didn’t find anything that seemed important.”

“But, the last book looked significantly older than the rest and fairly ornate, so it may have some clues as to what sort of supernatural she may be and what her intentions actually are in Beacon Hills” Stiles interjected.

“And how exactly do the books she owns have anything to do with her intentions?” Braeden asked as she was utterly confused as to how they would make such a connection.

“Oh, I guess I completely forgot to mention it; she kept these old books of hers in a pretty secure suitcase, locked with a security code and everything, so I’m pretty sure something in that last book will give us some useful information” Stiles said, explaining his previous omission.

Stiles had quite the detective’s mind, but boy did he have the tendency to leave out critical pieces of information once he really got worked up about something.

“But Stiles, what makes you so sure you’ll find out anything in that last book, I mean isn’t looking through her books and stuff kinda risky” Kira piped up, looking mildly hesitant, as she could definitely tell that Stiles was proud of his deduction and didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She was always so considerate; one of many reasons why she thought Kira was perfect for Scott.

“I’m not and it is, but we don’t really have much other choice in the matter if we want to find out what she may be up to without her knowing about it; and that’s where you come in Lydia” Stiles said, gesturing towards her.

“Me? What could I do?” Lydia asked.

“Considering the book I’m referring to is very old, it’s probably written in an older language like Latin, which, as you’ve told us several times before, is a language that you’re familiar with” Stiles responded.

“I’d say I’m a bit more than just familiar with it Stiles, I mean I have studied classical Latin pretty thoroughly as well as some of its later variations and derivatives. So, yeah, I don’t think it should give me any trouble” Lydia said.

“Great! So I’ll bring the book with me tomorrow morning so you look through it during your free period” Stiles said, seeming relieved about this development, as they could have easily reached a dead end in that line of investigation without her help.

All in all, this was proving to be an interesting, but worrisome mystery, as it was now pretty clear to her if Tatia, Townsend, and Volkov were really up to no good, they would certainly be unlike any enemies the pack had faced before.

“Seems like a good plan to me” Braeden said “While y’all are busy investigating Tatia, Derek and I will keep an eye on Townsend and Volkov; although, Scott and Kira, since you are both in Townsend’s class, you two should also keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious behavior on his part.”

“And don’t forget to call us if anything important happens” Derek added, as Scott and his friends were leaving the loft, said in a similar tone to that of a concerned parent.

Once Scott and the others had already taken the lift down to the lobby, she went back to the couch where Derek was now sitting and took a seat next to him, resting her head lightly upon his shoulder.

“This isn’t going to end well is it?” Braeden said.

“Honestly, I really don’t know; whatever Stiles’ aunt and my two tenants are, I’ve never encountered anyone like them before, so good or bad, I have no idea what to expect” Derek said.

“What I do know is that Scott and his pack have been able to survive everything that’s been thrown at them so far, so I don’t doubt their ability to confront this possible new threat” Derek said, obviously proud of all Scott and his friends had been able to accomplish in such a short time and the leader that Scott had become.

“Who knows, he may not even need our help, I mean he’s done a better job of protecting this town I ever could” Derek said, laughing to himself afterwards.

“True” Braeden said, joining his laughter with hers; she was glad that he had learned not be so hard on himself for his past mistakes.

“Seriously though, I hope this is all just a big misunderstanding and there really isn’t a threat; they deserve to be able to enjoy their senior year and just be teenagers for once, before they have to go out and face the world” Braeden said, her mood turning a bit melancholy.

“Yeah, me too” Derek said, putting his arm around her as the two of them went back to watching TV, determined to lounge away the rest of the afternoon in a relaxed, peaceful state.


	8. Chapter 8

_Lydia_

Walking towards the school library, Lydia felt both excited and relaxed at the same time; the excitement stemming from the intellectual challenge of deciphering Tatia’s book that would shortly commence and the lack of anxiety stemming mostly from the fact that libraries had always been calming places for her, places where she could develop her mind, away from a myriad of potential distractions.

She opened one of the double doors that constituted the library’s main entrance and proceeded to walk over to the front desk to sign in to the library for the duration of her free period.

“Hello Lydia, how are you doing today?” Ms. Fitzpatrick, the head librarian, said as Lydia signed her name on the sign-in sheet.

“Pretty good, how are you doing?” Lydia said.

“Oh, I’m doing just fine myself. Do you need me to help you with anything today?” Ms. Fitzpatrick asked, brimming with her usual cheerful demeanor.

“I’m good for now, but if I need anything, I’ll be sure to let you know” Lydia replied, as she smiled warmly at Ms. Fitzpatrick.

She had always had a good relationship with all the school librarians, mostly because she was one of the few students who came to the library who actually enjoyed reading and had the thirst for knowledge that she felt made their jobs more worthwhile; she actually appreciated their book recommendations and couldn’t count the number of times they had helped her research particular topics and acquire some hard to find books and materials.

Lydia strolled over to the large set of tables in the back right corner of the library, usually used by students having group study sessions or simply to lounge about during their free periods.

She chose the table closest to a large bookshelf located against the back wall of the library for no particular reason other than it was the most out of the way, and therefore the least likely to have other students wanting to use it; she and Stiles only had the duration of this period to figure out anything that was to be figured out about Tatia’s book and she didn’t want them to be interrupted.

Lydia took a seat at the table and waited patiently for Stiles to arrive, hoping he wouldn’t be too late.

***

A few minutes after third period had begun, Lydia saw Stiles walk into the library and sign the sign-in sheet. She couldn’t make out what Ms. Fitzpatrick was telling him as he signed in, but she was most likely warning him not to be too rowdy, as him and Scott often were whenever they were in the library.

While he was walking briskly toward the table at which she was seated, she noticed just how much letting his hair down improved his appearance; she had of course informed him on multiple occasions that that would be the case, but it took Malia dumping his entire supply of hair gel into the garbage for him to get the message.

Now, if only something could be done about his rather plain wardrobe, he would be quite the stunner; not to say he wasn’t already at the higher end of the attractiveness spectrum, it’s just that he could be even higher if he put a little effort into his appearance.

Arriving at the table, Stiles sat down next to her, and placed the book he talked about the day before on the table.

Examining the book, Lydia noticed that the book’s cover was made of thick, heavily tanned leather that still retained some of its original texture and the binding seemed to be intact, although she would be ginger with it just in case it was less sturdy than it looked.

“How old do you think it is?” Stiles asked

“Judging from the cover, binding, and the yellowing of the pages, I would have to say very; definitely medieval, but I’d have to read some of it to be able to do a more accurate approximation of the date of publication” Lydia replied.

She proceeded to open the book to the title page, which as she initially suspected, was written in Medieval Latin, but was apparently a copy of a much older text.

“So, what’s it say” Stiles asked, evidently both curious and anxious to find out what was contained within the pages of the tome.

“The book is titled _Quod Occultus Semita,_ which roughly translates to _The Hidden Path_ ” Lydia answered.

“That sounds sufficiently ominous; sounds like she’s definitely hiding something” Stiles said. She rolled her eyes at his comment; leave it Stiles to make puns regardless of the appropriateness of the situation.

She attempted to read the first few pages of the book, but to no avail; the text of the beginning pages was faded and even smudged in some places, making it difficult to read.

“Unfortunately, Stiles, most of the text is near unreadable, but from the few words I can pick out, it seems to be a book about astronomy or astrology” Lydia said. Stiles gave her a look of confusion, clearly needing a more thorough explanation.

“Many philosophers, or learned people, of ancient times, thought that the celestial bodies of the heavens, what we now think of as just stars and planets, represented their gods and their power and were often depicted with symbols. These symbols were used in a variety of ways from star charts to rituals” Lydia explained.

“So, they were used for magical rituals?” Stiles asked.

“Basically” Lydia answered, “If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said of course not, but now, with all the crazy supernatural stuff we’ve encountered, nothing sounds too far-fetched to me.”

They both shared a hearty laugh about the current state of things as she continued to read through the book, now just a bit more worried about what they might find.

***

After more than thirty minutes of skimming through about most of the book, she had not found any more useful information, as most of the innermost pages were in surprisingly worse condition than the first ones; she was getting worried that they might have hit a dead end.

That is, until she came upon two oddly well preserved pages near the end of the tome, both containing large, detailed pictures. The first of which had three small symbols oriented at the angles of a large triangle and the second had twelve symbols arranged in a circular formation around a smaller circle, but also within a larger circle.

“Stiles, I think I found something, well two somethings actually” Lydia said, excited that they might not be out of luck after all.

“I’d definitely say so” Stiles said, as he brought the book closer to himself so he could get a better look “Do you have any idea what they might mean?”

“In this first picture, the three symbols at the angles of the triangle are astrological symbols for planets: ☿for Mercury, ♃for Jupiter, and ♄for Saturn; but I don’t know why they’re arranged this way or what the entire picture is supposed to represent” Lydia said, pointing out the symbols to Stiles.

“There’s no title or caption for the picture?” Stiles asked.

“Nope, and even if there was, I would need the information in the pages before it to fully understand what the particular arrangement of the symbols in the picture means, and most of them are so faded and smudged, I couldn’t possibly hope to read them” Lydia responded.

“How about the second picture then?” Stiles asked, with a hint of irritation in his voice; she couldn’t really blame him though, it’s always frustrating when something you’d hoped to solve quickly and easily just reveals yet another mystery.

“Honestly, I have no clue what it means; I don’t recognize any of the symbols in the space between the inner and outer circles. But, something tells me that understanding the previous symbol might be the key to understanding this one” Lydia replied.

“Couldn’t it be the other around though?” Stiles queried.

“That’s a distinct possibility” Lydia replied, aware of how unsure she sounded about all this, but she was doing her best to try to ease Stiles’ admittedly sensible anxiousness about the enigma at hand.

“So….” Stiles said as looked up the time on his phone “We’ve spent most of the period going over this, and the only promising clues we got so far are these two pictures. Fantastic.”

“They’re better than nothing; plus, when have we ever been able to solve any of these mysteries smoothly and easily, pretty par for the course really” Lydia said, doing her best to remain at least somewhat optimistic.

“True” Stiles agreed.

“How much time do we have left in the period anyway?” Lydia inquired.

“Only about five minutes, is that going to be enough time for you to finish going through it?” Stiles asked.

“Definitely not, but I’ll just skip my next class so I can finish and take photos of the most relevant portions of the book, because this may last time we’ll have access to it” Lydia answered, as she began to snap photos of the pages they had been examining.

“You sure you’re cool with missing class?” Stiles said, seeming almost a little bit guilty for placing her is such a position.

“Really, Stiles, I’m fine; it’s just AP Calc, I could ace that in my sleep” Lydia said.

“Alright, so I'll come back at the end of next period for the book” Stiles said, putting on his backpack and heading out to his next class just a few minutes before the period ended.

“Okay, sounds good” Lydia said.

***

It had only taken her a few minutes to skim through the final pages of the book, from which she did not gather any more useful information. Realizing that there was still about forty minutes left in the period, she decided to re-examine the second picture to at least try to determine the meaning of the circular formation of symbols.

Lydia decided that writing down the symbols in a linear fashion might allow here to discern more about them. Going from around the circle of symbols in a clockwise fashion, she wrote down the symbols on a single line.

ᚠ ᚦ ᛞ ᚺ ᛈ ᛚ ᚢ ᛃ ᛟ ᛉ ᚨ ᛗ

As she stared at the line of symbols, she began to become frustrated as she could not seem to detect any discernable pattern, other than the fact that they looked like letters of some ancient language.

Glancing at the original picture again trying to gather some additional information on the symbols, Lydia observed that there were noticeable spaces between every three symbols, delimiting the circular formation into four separate sections. She quickly went back to her notes and revised the line of symbols to match this new discovery.

ᚠ ᚦ ᛞ              ᚺ ᛈ ᛚ               ᚢ ᛃ ᛟ               ᛉ ᚨ ᛗ

Although she realized this new finding didn’t bring her all that much closer to finding out the meaning of the entire picture, it was a start.

Going with the notion that these symbols were letters, or possibly even words, of an ancient language that was currently unknown to her, she decided that this would be a great time to ask Ms. Fitzpatrick for some assistance; plus in her obsession with unraveling the mystery before her, she had forgotten to sign back into the library for the current period.

After she had signed in again for the duration of fourth period, she walked over to Ms. Fitzpatrick, who had just finished helping a student check out a few books.

“Do you need my help with something Lydia?” Ms. Fitzpatrick said.

“I do. I was hoping you could help me find some books on classical and ancient languages; it’s for a project for my AP World History class” Lydia said, putting on her best, most convincing smile.

“How interesting! Do you have any specific books in mind, or would you like me to take you to the section with books relating to that subject?” Ms. Fitzpatrick said, exuding warmth and positivity.

“The general section please, I’m sure I’ll find plenty of helpful resources there” Lydia said, not that she couldn’t have located them on her own; it’s just that she was currently a bit pressed for time.

Lydia then followed Ms. Fitzpatrick as she led the way to one particular bookshelf in the opposite corner of the library to the one her and Stiles had been previously; a bookshelf that did not seem like it got a lot of attention, judging from the noticeable layer of dust on some of the lower shelves.

“Here are all the books we have on the subject of ancient languages; I’m afraid, like much of the library, our selection is quite limited, but I’m sure you’ll find enough information in these books to at least begin your research” Ms. Fitzpatrick said, gesturing towards the bottom three shelves of the bookcase.

“Thanks Ms. Fitzpatrick” Lydia said.

“You’re welcome Lydia. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to let me know” Ms. Fitzpatrick said before returning to the front desk.

Lydia sighed at the prospect of having to go through all these books just to find the information she wanted; if only she knew how to type the symbols into Google, but alas, she did not. This was the best option for her, so she’d better get to work.

***

At the end of the period, after skimming through a few dozen books, Lydia picked up a textbook from the bottom shelf titled _the Cultures and Writings of Ancient Scandinavia_ , which immediately looked promising as some of the symbols on the otherwise plain cover looked very similar to those she had written down from Tatia’s book.

“Finally!” Lydia whispered to herself, positively ecstatic that she might have found another lead on these strange symbols; although since the period was almost over, she would not have time to fully look through the book now. So, she picked up the book, along with the rest of her things, and walked toward the front desk to check it out, so she could thoroughly read through it later that evening for much needed answers to the ever growing mystery before her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Jordan_

As the multitude of lights that lit the large lecture hall where his class on classical mythology was taught, Jordan tried his best to shake off some of his drowsiness, brought upon partially by Professor Jameson’s monotone voice and partially by his wise decision to take an early morning class just a few hours after his night shift ended at the station. Sighing lowly to himself, Jordan put on his windbreaker, grabbed his notebook and pencil, and headed toward one of the three sets of double doors leading into the cavernous lecture hall.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the about two hundred and fifty other students to exit the lecture hall, he was finally able to leave and enter the adjacent hallway; he probably could have made his way through the initial crowd, but he never liked dealing with crowds, they always gave him an unnerving feeling of being momentarily lost within a sea of people.

Walking down the hallway, Jordan took the time to appreciate the way that the rays of the morning sun entered into the large windows dotting the left side of the hallway, filling it with shafts of warm sunlight, illuminating the hall and all of the students, faculty, and others walking within, transforming it for the very briefest of moments into the sort of picturesque setting always portrayed of upscale academia.

Previously, he couldn’t be bothered with such romantic illusions, but occasionally, especially after these past few months in Beacon Hills, he would catch himself just wistfully observing his surroundings, recalling the troubles of his past and his worries for the future.

But enough of that, Jordan thought to himself as he exited Windsor Hall and headed towards the main library on the Devenford College campus, it was time to set his mind to the task at hand, namely doing his initial research for his midterm paper in his mythology class; never too early to get started on those sorts of things.

***

Entering the library, Jordan headed straight towards one of the various help desks scattered throughout the first floor of the library, hoping to obtain some assistance on his research paper, as he wasn’t familiar with how to access the university’s catalog of resources.

However, as the woman who was seated at the help desk he had chosen to approach turned around, he was quite surprised to see that it was Tatia, the sheriff’s sister in law.

“Tatia, I’m surprised to see you here, I mean, I didn’t know you worked here” Jordan said, trying his best not stumble over his words; he had never before encountered a woman as beautiful as her before. Her long, wavy black hair contrasted perfectly with the lightness of her skin, which was only further accentuated by the bright amber of her eyes. But, it wasn’t just her beauty that attracted him, for she also had an air of grace and poise about her that was quite unfamiliar, but at the same time alluring.

“Well, I’ve only been working here for about a week, and classes have only just started this week, so it’s no wonder we haven’t encountered each other until now; although I am a bit surprised that John hadn’t mentioned it” Tatia said, as she rose from her seat to stand at the edge of the table between them.

“I actually forgot to tell him that I was taking a class here” Jordan said, laughing a bit at his own forgetfulness “That’s probably why he didn’t say anything.”

“Oh, that makes sense. John never was one for idle small talk anyhow” Tatia said.

“So, what do you need help with?” Tatia asked, after an awkward moment of silence shared between them, for he was so entranced by her that he had forgotten for a second what he was doing there in the first place.

“I was hoping you would be able to show me how to access the school’s catalogue of research databases; I decided to get an early start on a research paper” Jordan said.

“I’d be glad to” Tatia said, flashing him a warm smile as she came from behind the counter to walk with him towards the computer center at the other end of the first floor; a walk that mostly consisted of him having a rather intense internal debate over at what point during this interaction should he make his move, as he didn’t want to appear too forward, but if he didn’t act soon, he might lose his chance.

Reaching the computer center, Jordan took a seat at one of the computer terminals while Tatia brought over a chair to sit next to him.

“Okay, first you should open up the web browser and go to the university homepage” Tatia instructed. He proceeded to do that, only to be met with quite a long loading time, lasting almost a minute.

“Are these computers always this slow?” Jordan complained.

“I wouldn’t know, as I said before I’ve been working here for a short while. However, from my experience at other universities, their networks are usually quite slow during the first few weeks due mostly to the influx of people adjusting their class schedules, getting a head start on projects as you are, or about a dozen other reasons” Tatia said, not seeming bothered by his question, which was a good sign, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was bumbling his way through this entire interaction; he never had been good at casual flirtation.

“Makes sense” Jordan said, finally arriving on the University’s homepage.

“Now you need to click on the symbol for the library, a gilded stack of books, on the taskbar on that page” Tatia said as she pointed toward the correct symbol “Why they didn’t just keep it simple and just have a list to choose from I’ll never know, got to keep things fancy I guess.”

They both shared a laugh at her comment, which raised Jordan’s spirits, as he was initially worried that she wouldn’t have a good sense of humor, but clearly that worry was unsubstantiated.

Clicking on the symbol, he was now on the library’s main resources page, where there were several links relating to research, but he wasn’t sure which one to choose.

“Click the first link” Tatia said.

He proceeded to click the link titled Most Popular Databases, which brought him a list of, presumably, popular research databases, including a description of what sort of materials they contain.

“Alright, here are all the large, well-known databases that the school has access to; these should be more than enough for your purposes” Tatia said, rising from her seat as it appeared she was about to take her leave “Oh, and remember, if you want to find general information on your topic use the basic search function, otherwise use the advanced one which will allow you to enter in multiple keywords in search fields that will greatly narrow down the results, in case you’re looking for something really specific.”

“Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it” Jordan said, smiling fondly at her.

“Anytime, just let me know if you need anything else” Tatia said with a look in her eyes that suggested to him that she may, in fact, be at least somewhat attracted to him, which he took as his queue to muster up the courage to ask her out on a date.

“Actually, there is something else I need, want, I mean something else I want” Jordan said, immediately blushing at how forward that first part sounded.

“And that would be…” Tatia said receptively; he may still have a chance after all.

“Would you like to go out for some coffee sometime today, or some other day, any day really?” Jordan said, somehow managing to be both cliché and rambling; he was truly astounded by how absolutely terrible he was at this sort of thing.

“I’d love to; I finish my first shift at four o’clock this afternoon, would that be a good time for you?” Tatia said, after giggling a bit at his admittedly badly delivered proposition.

“That’d be great, I’ll meet you here in the computer center when you get off your shift” Jordan said, making sure he was quick to respond to dispel any perceived hesitation on his part.

“See you then!” Tatia said happily as she strolled back over to the help desk to await anyone needing assistance.

Jordan followed this exchange by calmly turning around to face the computer screen to begin research on his paper, although he was celebrating internally at his successful venture in asking Tatia out.

This put a smile on his face for the remainder of his time in the library that morning and the following afternoon, putting him in a much better mood than he had been when he entered the library, at the time just a tad worried that even this class, and possibly others would not be of any use to him in finding out his true nature, just as the Argent’s bestiary had been.

However, those past dead ends did not lessen his drive, as he waded through academic papers detailing ancient mythologies, hoping in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, one of them might be the key to understanding what sort of supernatural he was and what such a discovery could mean for him and his future.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Tatia_

She walked back to her station, trying her best to hide a satisfied smirk, for that had been significantly easier than she had first anticipated it would be. She would have thought someone who worked in law enforcement would have a more of a suspicious eye about things, but clearly Deputy Parrish, who had seemingly forgotten to tell her his first name, was one who played at being a man grown but was still a boy when it came to matters of attraction.

Still, she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t find his wholesome, innocent sort of approach endearing, for it was in a way; and, if anything, it might allow her to obtain certain pieces of information without drawing too much attention to herself.

Before she could contemplate more on how exactly she would go about her future interactions with Parrish, another student had arrived at her help desk seeking assistance, so she decided to file away such thoughts until their date later that day, when she was not as busy maintaining a pleasant façade while doing a job she’d rather not be doing.

For as much as she had always loved books and the caring for them that came with her profession, she had little tolerance for the sort of interactions assisting entailed, with all the false pleasantries and contained frustration.

Alas, that was simply the way things had to be for now, at least until she fully executed her plan. But, until then, she would need to bring Parrish close to her, which judging from his behavior so far, should be quite easy.

***

It was now much later in the day, just a few minutes after her morning shift was over; she put on her light sweater and walked back over to the computer center where she had agreed to meet Parrish earlier. Parrish was still there, seeming quite focused on his assignment; that he was a hard worker was certainly not up for question.

Giving him a light tap on the shoulder, Tatia said “Are you ready to get going or are you in the middle of something?”

“Oh, no, I’m ready” Parrish said, quickly finishing up what he was doing “I actually thought you wouldn’t be here for a few more minutes.”

“So, where shall we be going, Deputy Parrish; you know, you never did tell your first name” Tatia said, doing her best to be quaintly charming.

“Oh, it’s Jordan, and I had planned for us to just go to the campus coffee shop” Jordan said; now openly blushing at his obvious lack of savviness when it came to attempted flirtatious interactions. Indeed, this did surprise her. With his frankly almost adorable, albeit somewhat quirky, attempts at romance, his muscular physique, which she keenly observed as he rose from his chair, and his rather pretty face, she found it a bit strange that he wasn’t already taken.

Although, truth be told, there were many men like him with those qualities, but what made him special, and of particular use to her, was the power contained within that rather unassuming frame.

“Well, Jordan, that’s sounds fine to me. I definitely need a bit of a caffeine boost for my evening shift” Tatia said, feigning laughter.

“I hear ya, being the newest deputy, I often get stuck with the graveyard shift” Jordan said.

Continuing their conversation, Tatia walked out of the library with him and towards the campus coffeehouse, curious to know more about him and what information she could get out of him on the current state of Beacon Hills and its residents. Although, throughout the duration of their walk, Tatia began to feel just a bit guilty about what she had planned for him, not to the point of doubt or anything of that sort, but just enough to affect her, for it was those same qualities of his that she had thought upon earlier that would make her future actions all the more difficult to perform.

However, by the time they had reached the coffee shop, she had resolved in her mind that regardless of how difficult the things that she would have to do to achieve her ultimate goal would be, she must what she must do, for it shall all be worth it in the end.


	10. Chapter 10

_Gabriel_

It was just after nightfall when he and Artyom fully shifted into their wolf forms and began their run through the Beacon Hills Nature Preserve; true it was risky, but Artyom had been hankering to let go of his inhibitions and get a bit wild for some time now, and he was not one to deny him.

Starting from eastern edge of the preserve, they ran for what must have been only about a half an hour, but it felt so much longer, as his thoughts fled away from him briefly in lieu of the primal urges of the beast within. All his senses became heightened to an almost obscene degree in this state, allowing him to hear leaves crackle and crunch beneath his paws while the evening air rushed through his silver fur as it shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

After they had made what amounted to almost a complete lap around the preserve from where they started, they veered from their original course as they headed for a particular large clearing in the middle of the preserve, where Tatia had told them to meet her that night.

Upon reaching the clearing, they both shifted back to their human forms; Artyom always completing the transformation quicker than him, for he was a born werewolf, and even though Gabriel had had much practice in the decade or so since he was bitten, he still couldn’t do it with the ease, almost grace really, that Artyom had always been able to achieve.

As they stood naked in the clearing, momentarily recovering from what had been quite an exhilarating run, Gabriel took a moment to appreciate Artyom’s physique, and particularly how his pale, almost ivory, skin seemed to almost glow in the moonlight, giving him an almost ethereal look about him. The sight of him aroused Gabriel enough to give his cock a noticeable hardening; and telling from the way Artyom was walking towards him, with a needy expression on his face, he was not the only one to notice it.

“I see someone got a bit excited by our run” Artyom said, whispering in his ear as he grabbed a hold of Gabriel’s cock with one hand, and draped the other over his shoulder.

“Yes, I did, but now is not time. Tatia will be here any minute” Gabriel said, struggling to contain the pleasure that was now beginning to course through him as Artyom began to stroke away, forcefully and with purpose.

“You’re right it’s not, but I know you want me now, and I want you as well” Artyom said, breathing a full, hot breath across his cheek, before locking their lips for a passionate kiss.

Finally giving in to Artyom’s charms, Gabriel took hold of Artyom’s cock and pulled him that much closer till they were almost rutting together, while Artyom pushed aside Gabriel’s long dreadlocks to grasp at the back of his neck with a lustful force, making his carnal hunger even more palpable.

Just as Gabriel was about to close his hand around both of their cocks and bring them both to a satisfying climax, he heard a rustling of leaves on the ground behind him. As his instincts were already in overdrive at the moment, he let go of Artyom and turned around quickly, baring his fangs at the potential threat awaiting him in the darkness.

“Seriously” Tatia said, appearing from within the darkness, wearing a long dark blue robe fitted with a voluminous hood that almost completely concealed her face.

“We were only engaging in our desire for one another, Tatia; there’s no need to look so stern” Artyom said, confidently.

“I don’t really care what you do one way or another, but we have business to attend to, so please cloth yourselves” Tatia said, causing Gabriel to cover his manhood, incredibly embarrassed at his current circumstances.

“I’m afraid we left our clothes behind when we began our run, they’re not much use to when we full shift, you know” Artyom said; oh how he loved to just push all of Tatia’s buttons at once.

“Of course, you did” Tatia said, rolling her eyes at them. “Regardless, we must begin with the ritual, just please refrain from fucking each other for its duration, as both of you must remain in your designated positions.”

“You know you’re welcome to join us any time Tatia” Artyom said, causing Gabriel to run his hand over his face in what was both a gesture of shame over being interrupted during such an intimate situation and one of frustration directed towards Artyom, who wanted for some reason, to prolong such a mortifying conversation.

“I know it pains your ego to hear it, but sadly, I’ll have to decline. Now, shift and take your positions” Tatia commanded, walking to the center of the clearing.

Upon her command, Gabriel and Artyom took on their wolf forms once again, and strode toward their positions, opposite each other and diagonal to Tatia, in order to form a large triangle between them in the middle of the clearing.

Now that the proper alignment had been formed, Tatia donned a white porcelain mask of exquisite quality that covered the majority of her face and was adorned with two ovoid amethysts at the position of the eyes; she only used it primarily for rituals, as it greatly magnified her already staggering power that much further.

Now fully clad in her mask and long flowing robe, which completely obstructed all of her distinguishing features, she began the ritual.

Even though at his current distance from her, he could not observe her movements closely, he could clearly make out a circular beam consisting of many small, luminous particles with a distinct dark violet hue appear around her. After but a few moments, the individual particles coalesced into a single, solid beam of light, completely covering her. The light of the beam then lowered around itself her, appearing to concentrate itself into a small circle at her feet.

Extending from that bright circle were two beams, which shot out quickly across the grass toward him and Artyom, enveloping them briefly upon contact; although these beams shortly formed the same sort of circle around themselves as the one at Tatia’s feet, the few seconds of direct exposure to the energy was excruciating painful, but not in the physical sense. The feeling itself was very difficult to describe, as if someone had lit a fire within his very soul; he had felt it many a time before, but each time was just as agonizing as the first.

After enduring that brief ordeal, three circles of light now existed on the field, one under each of them, with faint, almost ethereal paths of violet, spectral flame forming between them, first forming what must have looked like a ghostly triangle from above, and then two larger circles around the triangle. The margin in between the two circles of flame was then filled in with many symbols, runes Tatia called them, formed from the same sort of flame, only much brighter.

Almost instantaneously afterwards, five large spheres of the spectral flame formed around Tatia’s figure in the center of her sorcerous display, appearing at first dim and then increasing sharply in luminosity until they were almost blinding; at which point, they rapidly departed from her, propelled in all different directions into the forest around them. Everything then became momentarily calm, but deceivingly so, as five of the tallest trees in the forest around suddenly erupted in a spectacular spectral combustion.

As impressive as this demonstration of her power had been, it was rather fleeting, with all the flames beside them and in the trees around them disappearing almost immediately afterwards.

“The binding of the pentacle has been completed. It will be become active in one week, on the night of the full moon” Tatia said as the three of them congregated towards the western edge of the clearing.

“Is that when we will perform the sacrifice?” Artyom asked, sounding more enthusiastic about it than Gabriel wished for him to be, for while he was on board with Tatia’s plan, he didn’t relish at the thought of what they would have to do.

“It would be possible, but we will not perform the sacrifice until the eve of the Trine Convergence, because only then will I have all the power necessary to ensure that it will succeed” Tatia responded.

“That is unless you’d be willing to risk a horribly painful death” Tatia quipped at Artyom.

“I think I’ll a pass on that. Anyway, what’s next?” Artyom said.

“Now, you and Gabriel must lie in wait on the edge of the road running along the western edge of the preserve, until you see my nephew’s blue jeep approach; it’s a distinct color, you shouldn’t be able to miss it” Tatia said, pointing in the direction that they should head towards to intercept him.

“Once you have successfully ambushed him, one of you, it doesn’t matter who, must give him the bite, and only the bite; I’d prefer it if he didn’t sustain any major injuries” Tatia said, emphasizing the importance of not roughing of up the boy too much; this of course was directed much more towards Artyom than himself, who had the tendency to get carried away during physical altercations.

“As you command Tatia. Is there anything else we should be aware of regarding the boy?” Gabriel asked, not wanting to be unpleasantly surprised later on.

“No, for now, he is just an ordinary human, although I would watch out for his girlfriend though, she is a werecoyote and could prove troublesome” Tatia informed him.

“Wait, why are we purposely unlocking the boy’s latent potential? Won’t that make things more difficult for us?” Artyom asked.

He really wished Artyom would just learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. It was true that they had become strong allies of hers over the past several years, but still, she was not one to be trifled with.

“He is but one of several sources that I plan to siphon power from in order to execute the sacrifice successfully; how I will accomplish that is none of your concern nor could I possibly explain the complicated entirety of my plans to you this very second” Tatia said, now visibly irritated.

“Artyom, let’s go, we’ve wasted enough time talking. We don’t want to miss our chance” Gabriel said, doing his best to diffuse the situation, mostly because he really wasn’t in the mood for yet another round of their bickering.

As the two of them were about to depart for their target location to prepare the ambush, Gabriel could tell that Artyom was beginning to brood over their interaction with Tatia, and he knew he would have to set things straight with him if they were going to complete this ambush successfully, as Artyom was wont to let his emotions get the better of him; something that could not be afforded now, as they would have but one chance to pull this off.

“There’s no reason for you to get so bothered” Gabriel said, starting what could surely be an arduous conversation.

“Miss our chance! We still have plenty of time. Why do you always have to take her side?! Do I mean nothing to you?” Artyom said.

“I have loved you and have always been at your side since we were fourteen, how could you ever ask me that” Gabriel said, as he stood in place, hurt by Artyom’s tone and statement.

“I’m sorry” Artyom said, putting his arm around Gabriel’s shoulder and pulling him close “I shouldn’t have said that, it’s just that I can’t stand her sometimes”

“I don’t have any love for her either, but we’ve helped her many times before and we’ve already agreed to help her with this” Gabriel said, as Artyom briefly nuzzled his head against the side of Gabriel’s neck.

“Think if of it this way, once we help her with the sacrifice, we’ll become even more powerful than we are now, and we’ll live longer as well. All we have to do is help her with this one last thing” Gabriel said, slowing his speech as he brought Artyom lips to his for a quick, gentle kiss.

“You’re right, Gabe, its best that we just be done with this whole thing as quickly as possible, so we get the fuck away from this bitch for good” Artyom said, smirking throughout.

“I’m glad to see your senses have returned to you; and I agree, let’s this over with” Gabriel said, right before the two of them full-shifted and began to sprint towards their destination.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Stiles_

Regardless of how many times he had done it in the past, he never felt completely comfortable driving in the dark of night, even if it wasn’t even all that dark. However, he would have to put up with the mild anxiety it caused him, as Malia needed someone to drive her to his house from Kira’s house that night.

Well, not needed, as Stiles was well aware that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, but he simply felt more comfortable if he was driving her; some might call that overprotectiveness, he merely thought of it as an exercise in preventative forethought.

Still, he was happy they were getting close to his house, as he was pretty tired from his day at school and the hours of homework he had done that afternoon, during which he realized how much of he regretted signing up for several AP classes; how he wished that he could put “helped defend hometown from several evil supernaturals, nearly dying multiple times in the process” on his college applications. If he actually did that though, he would definitely be accepted, but to a rather different sort of institution.

Finishing that thought, Stiles wondered why Malia hadn’t said anything since he started driving along the road bordering the preserve. Looking over at her, his question was answered; she was clearly off in her own world, quite entranced by the seemingly endless expanse of trees that encompassed the woods of the preserve.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure how she felt about leaving the woods behind in her return to society; obviously, he knew she was happy with her new life, but he sensed that maybe there really was a part of her that longed for her life as a coyote. He’d considered bringing it up with her multiple times, but with such things, Stiles thought that ultimately the best course of action would be to just let sleeping dogs lie.

Suddenly, Malia broke from her trance and shouted “Stiles, watch out!”

Luckily, he had noticed in time a dark blur, some sort of animal most likely, dart quickly across the road; this realization however did not allow him to maintain his course on the road, as by quickly veering out of the way in order to avoid hitting it, he’d managed to slam his jeep at an angle into the guardrail. Thankfully for him, he was driving fairly slowly when this happened so they hadn’t gone through the guardrail and into the ditch below.

However, hearing the distinct crack and pop of a destroyed light fixture, he instantly knew that he had damaged one of his jeep’s headlights; still he would have to inspect it to confirm this assumption.

“Fuck!” Stiles said as he recovered from that moderately jarring impact “Malia, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, are you okay? You are the more fragile one of the two of us” Malia jested.

“Yeah, I’m fine; unfortunately I don’t think I can say the same for Roscoe” Stiles said, feigning offense at her previous comment.

“I still cannot believe you actually named it” Malia said, containing a bit of laughter as they both got out of the jeep to examine the damages.

“Hey, don’t insult him like that, he’s already in bad shape, I need him to be in good spirits to make a full recovery from this traumatic event” Stiles said.

Malia rolled her eyes and gave him a mildly annoyed expression; an expected response, but amusing nonetheless.

“Seriously though, one of the headlights is definitely busted, but the other seems fine; shouldn’t be too expensive to fix” Stiles said, as he bent down next to the front of his jeep to fully assess the situation.

“That’s great Stiles, but I think we have a bigger problem on our hands right now” Malia said, walking a bit ahead of the jeep and looking off into the distance, now in a defensive stance with her fangs bared and claws out.

“What, I don’t see anyth-” Stiles said, unable to finish his sentence before a large wolf with a dark brown fur leapt out of the darkness of the woods and tackled Malia to the ground just a few yards away from him; its glowing blue eyes making it quite clear to him that they were dealing with werewolves here.

Managing to knock the werewolf off herself for just a brief moment, Malia yelled “Stiles, run!”

Hesitating for more than just a moment, as he certainly did not want to leave Malia alone to fight this obviously, and quite unusually, powerful omega on her own, he knew that she was right and only wanted to keep him safe.

So, Stiles quickly turned in the direction opposite the brawl currently going on and began running as fast as could. Unfortunately, he was only able to make it a few yards away from the jeep before he himself was tackled to the ground by another werewolf what must have been only a second after he’d heard a loud thump that sounded like something had just landed on the roof of his jeep.

He let out a muffled cry, as he was currently pressed firmly against the asphalt, as the werewolf bit into his left shoulder. Strangely though, just as he became cognizant of his bite wound, the werewolf had already released him from its hold and bounded back into the woods from whence it came.

The pain was now starting to become intense as his vision began to blur and his limbs became all tingly and numb, but he took solace in the fact that Malia was apparently okay, as he saw her running toward him; a little battered and bruised but okay.

He was definitely not okay himself, as he was in such a great deal of pain that he couldn’t even lift himself up from the cold asphalt to walk towards her; all he could do was lift his hand toward her blurry visage just as the pain became too much for him to handle, causing him to pass out right then and there, in the middle of the road, with his last thoughts being a jumble of worries and fears of what was to come.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to give me any feedback on this fic or just want to talk, here's my and my [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/TeaMasterT)


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